Lennon is still not a happy Hibee
HIBS boss Neil Lennon spotted plenty room for improvement despite watching his side record their second straight win to join Raith Rovers at the top of the Championship table.
The former Celtic manager’s team had two defensive errors to thank for setting them on the path to victory over Dunfermline.
The second, a Callum Fordyce blunder, gifted the winning goal to Jason Cummings 13 minutes from time.
Lennon is aware his side must be more clinical in attack if they are to continue to produce results in a competitive league.
“I don’t want to put a negative slant on another very good performance but we could have been two or three-up by halftime,” said Lennon.
“We were in control when Dunfermline scored and then we wobbled for a short time.
“We have to deal with setbacks far better.
“But we eventually settled down and went on to win the game.
“We just need a wee bit more composure in attack to make sure we take these chances.”
Nonetheless Lennon, who still hopes to add to his pool of players, was delighted to make it two wins out of two to kickstart the Hibees’ bid for promotion to the Premiership.
“We have high expectations here but I have to be happy with two wins out of two because this is a tough division with a lot of good teams in it,” he added. “We’d still like to strengthen our squad.
“We’ve made an approach for Andrew Shinnie and we’re just waiting to hear back from Birmingham.”
Pars manager Allan Johnston insisted his side deserved some reward for a positive performance.
The former Rangers winger said: “We’re gutted we haven’t taken anything and I don’t think we deserved that. The players responded brilliantly after half time and at 1-1 we looked the likelier team to score again.
“Hibs and Dundee United are the promotion favourites but we’ve come here and put in an excellent performance, so there are plenty of positives.
“We just need to move on from this and make sure we win next week.”
Ben Richards-Everton’s 28th-minute own goal came as Hibs put the visitors’
defence under intolerable pressure with a series of dangerous corner kicks.
From one, Darren McGregor’s back-post header was only partially cleared and, with home strikers Cummings and Grant Holt lurking like vultures, the unbalanced Richards-Everton arced a backward header over keeper David Hutton and into his own net.
Defender Paul Hanlon and midfielder John McGinn both went close before half time.
Then Holt looked every one of his 35 years as he snatched at a halfchance early in the second period.
Hibs’ Achilles heel has long been their inability to put teams away while on top, and when Hearts loanee Gavin Reilly scored a coollytaken equaliser it looked like the Leith outfit could drop points. The tireless Cummings kept them driving forward, though, and manager Lennon made his own contribution, going for broke by bringing on midfielder Dylan McGeouch for defender Liam Fontaine.
Even so, Dunfermline were edging closer to a draw before another defensive miscalculation cost them dear.